Meet the winemaker: Buona Notte

Buona Notte is a winery run by Graham Markel in the Columbia Gorge, between Oregon and Washington in the United States. Graham makes low intervention, unfined and unfiltered wines using Italian varietals. 

We spoke to Graham after including one of his wines in our selection for RAW WINE Club. We hope you enjoy reading our conversation.

Can you tell me about your background - how you came to be a winemaker and what your influences are?

I spent a lot of my childhood here in Italy at my mom's cooking school [in Florence, where Graham was visiting when we spoke].  She's had the school since I was nine, so I would spend about a semester of school here, either going to the local Italian school just outside of Florence in Chianti or, later on, the American International School of Florence. So I have a really deep connection to Italian food and wine. Beyond that, I started working in restaurants and learned more about wine and cooking, working front of house as well as bartending. 

I learned a lot about wine in particular at this restaurant in Boulder Colorado where I grew up, and had the opportunity to work a harvest which at the time just sounded like a fun way to learn more about the process and work with my hands - never in a million years did I think I could start my own winery. I got a great job through a family friend, Nate Ready, who's the winemaker and co-owner of Hiyu Wine Farm. Then I worked for this place called Antica Terra in the Willamette Valley for four years. In the first couple of weeks working there I was hooked and at that point became convinced that I would eventually start my own winery. 

I spent seven years total working for other people and started to explore making my own wine using their cellars. At that time, I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I didn't want to make more Pinot and Chardonnay in Oregon,  because there's so many great winemakers doing that and I didn't feel like I had anything to add to that conversation, then I found some Sangiovese for sale one day and drove out to the vineyard just before harvest to check it out. It was in eastern Oregon, which is nothing like you'd imagine Tuscany, or anywhere else that Sangiovese is grown, to be. Driving through the cherry orchards and rolling wheat and mustard seed fields, I felt that even stronger, but then I got to the vineyard which sat on this beautiful, sloping hill with fields around it, it did look like Tuscany in a weird way and I put one grape in my mouth and knew in that moment that I would make wines from Oregon and in the Columbia Gorge with an Italian style. That's how it all started.

And how about the farming? How is that done?

I don't do the farming myself, but work closely with around eight different vineyards which all come in different styles. I try not to be too overbearing and trust them to do a good job because I've been working with these guys for six years now. It ranges from full biodynamics to conventional vineyards with a small plot of naturally farmed grapes for us. That's paid off actually because two of those conventional vineyards now spray the entire vineyard naturally. It's been good to have an impact that is commonly quite conventional when it comes to farming. Most of the vineyards are dry farmed.

What's the natural wine scene like in Washington and Oregon?

There is quite a big natural wine scene, particularly in Portland, Oregon.  In the Gorge, we get fruit from both sides, but the natural wine scene is definitely more prevalent in Portland where I live. We have a pretty good history of winemaking there from the Willamette Valley and then Portland. One of the best things about Portland is how affordable it is to start anything there. It's created an environment where young people can start wineries, especially natural wineries in that area, and have access to vineyards and grape grapes that have a great history. I think it's one of the two kind of epicenters of natural winemaking in the US - Portland and the Bay Area. There's such a great community here - we're always asking each other questions about winemaking and the wine business, collaborating and, we have a natural wine fair and a ton of natural wine bars - it's a great place to make and drink natural wine.

Visit Buona Notte's RAW WINE profile to learn more about the winery and discover which RAW WINE fairs they're pouring at soon.